TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Can there be no trust between a kidnapper and his hostages?
A man who held a Kansas couple hostage in their home while fleeing from authorities is suing them, claiming they broke an oral contract made when he promised them money in exchange for hiding him from police. The couple has asked a judge to dismiss the suit.
Jesse Dimmick of suburban Denver is serving an 11-year sentence after bursting into Jared and Lindsay Rowley's Topeka-area home in September 2009. He was wanted for questioning in the beating death of a Colorado man and a chase had begun in in Geary County.
The Topeka Capital-Journal (Dimmick sues couple he kidnapped | CJOnline.com ) reported that Dimmick filed a breach of contract suit in Shawnee County District Court, in response to a suit the Rowleys filed in September seeking $75,000 from him for intruding in their home and causing emotional stress.
Dimmick contends he told the couple he was being chased by someone, most likely the police, who wanted to kill him.
"I, the defendant, asked the Rowleys to hide me because I feared for my life. I offered the Rowleys an unspecified amount of money which they agreed upon, therefore forging a legally binding oral contract," Dimmick said in his hand-written court documents. He wants $235,000, in part to pay for the hospital bills that resulted from him being shot by police when they arrested him.
Neighbors have said the couple fed Dimmick snacks and watched movies with him until he fell asleep and they were able to escape their home unharmed.
Dimmick was convicted in May 2010 of four felonies, including two counts of kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months on those charges. He was later sent to a jail in Brighton, Colo., where he is being held on eight charges, including murder, in connection of with the killing of Michael Curtis in September 2009. A preliminary hearing originally scheduled for Dec. 6 has been rescheduled for April 12. No plea has been entered in the case.
Robert E. Keeshan, an attorney for the Rowleys, filed a motion denying there was a contract, but said if there was it would not have been binding anyway.
"In order for parties to form a binding contract, there must be a meeting of the minds on all essential terms, including and most specifically, an agreement on the price," he wrote.
Keeshan said the contract also would have been invalid because the couple agreed to let Dimmick in the home only because they knew he had a knife and suspected he might have a gun.
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Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, CJOnline.com

Joran van der Sloot, the man still suspected of murdering disappeared American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has filed a lawsuit against authorities with the Chilean and Peruvian government as well as Richard Flores, the father of a second murder victim whom van der Sloot is suspected of slaying. Van der Sloot's suit, which seeks $10 million in damages, alleges that the defendants violated his human rights as he was investigated for the murder of Stephany Flores.
The 24-year-old van der Sloot is alleging that Chilean authorities violated his rights during his forcible extradition from Chile to Peru to face murder charges in the May 30 killing of Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian business student, who was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima on June 2, 2010.
Van der Sloot has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the Flores case after his prior indictment by the U.S. government on charges of attempting to extort $250,000 from Holloway's family in exchange for information on her death and the alleged location of her body.
The Huffington Post's David Lohr explains the charges in van der Sloot's lawsuit:

The lawsuit alleges there was "pressure from the then-President of the Republic Alan Garcia Perez" to have him extradited. The suit further argues that police in Chile denied van der Sloot access to a telephone or computer so he could communicate with his family and alleges he was "deprived of his right to counsel."
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In addition to Perez, the lawsuit implicates former Peruvian Minister of Interior Octavio Salazar, former police generals Miguel Hidalgo and Cesar Guardia, and Ricardo Flores, the father of murder victim Stephany Flores.
​

Peruvian officials claim van der Sloot made a full confession to the murder of Flores, claiming he broke her neck after catching her using his computer to research his involvement in the Holloway murder case. Van der Sloot later retracted the confession, saying it was made under duress.

"I did not want to do it," van der Sloot allegedly said about the attack. "The girl intruded into my private life. ... We argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck, and I hit her."
​

A confidant of the van der Sloot family claimed yesterday that Joran was suffering from post traumatic stress at the time of Flores' murder.
The Peruvian government dismissed an earlier lawsuit from van der Sloot, who claimed he was arrested without a warrant and not given access to a translator while being pressured to confess to Flores' murder. "All this with the intention of pressuring me to accuse [me] of homicide," van der Sloot said in court documents.
Van der Sloot faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, with his trial set to start just after the New Year on Jan. 6.

Joran van der Sloot, the man still suspected of murdering disappeared American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has filed a lawsuit against authorities with the Chilean and Peruvian government as well as Richard Flores, the father of a second murder victim whom van der Sloot is suspected of slaying. Van der Sloot's suit, which seeks $10 million in damages, alleges that the defendants violated his human rights as he was investigated for the murder of Stephany Flores.
The 24-year-old van der Sloot is alleging that Chilean authorities violated his rights during his forcible extradition from Chile to Peru to face murder charges in the May 30 killing of Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian business student, who was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima on June 2, 2010.
Van der Sloot has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the Flores case after his prior indictment by the U.S. government on charges of attempting to extort $250,000 from Holloway's family in exchange for information on her death and the alleged location of her body.
The Huffington Post's David Lohr explains the charges in van der Sloot's lawsuit:

The lawsuit alleges there was "pressure from the then-President of the Republic Alan Garcia Perez" to have him extradited. The suit further argues that police in Chile denied van der Sloot access to a telephone or computer so he could communicate with his family and alleges he was "deprived of his right to counsel."
​

In addition to Perez, the lawsuit implicates former Peruvian Minister of Interior Octavio Salazar, former police generals Miguel Hidalgo and Cesar Guardia, and Ricardo Flores, the father of murder victim Stephany Flores.
​

Peruvian officials claim van der Sloot made a full confession to the murder of Flores, claiming he broke her neck after catching her using his computer to research his involvement in the Holloway murder case. Van der Sloot later retracted the confession, saying it was made under duress.

"I did not want to do it," van der Sloot allegedly said about the attack. "The girl intruded into my private life. ... We argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck, and I hit her."
​

A confidant of the van der Sloot family claimed yesterday that Joran was suffering from post traumatic stress at the time of Flores' murder.
The Peruvian government dismissed an earlier lawsuit from van der Sloot, who claimed he was arrested without a warrant and not given access to a translator while being pressured to confess to Flores' murder. "All this with the intention of pressuring me to accuse [me] of homicide," van der Sloot said in court documents.
Van der Sloot faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, with his trial set to start just after the New Year on Jan. 6.

Dutch citizen, and murder suspect Joran Van der Sloot, is seeking $10 million in damages from the Chilean government.
Leaked details from the petition have revealed that Van der Sloot has also named former Peruvian President Alan Garcia in the suit.
Van der Sloot claims his rights were violated during his arrest and extradition in Chile, in 2010.
According to El Dominical, the suit says then President Alan García pressured the Chilean government to extradite the Dutchman, shortly after he fled Peru.
The suit argues that Chile’s police didn’t grant him a phone call, or use of a computer to communicate with his family, failed to carry out due process and provide appropriate legal counsel.
In June 2010, Van der Sloot was accused of murdering Stephany Flores, in a hotel room in Miraflores, and is currently being held at the Miguel Castro Castro prison, awaiting trial.
Van der Sloot is also a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of 18-year-old American Natalee Holloway in Aruba, but was never indicted due to lack of evidence.
The lawsuit also implicates former Peruvian Minister of Interior, Octavio Salazar, former police generals Miguel Hidalgo, and Cesar Guardia; as well as Ricardo Flores, the murder victim’s father.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.** Resistance to Tyrants, is obedience to God. * Thomas Jefferson*Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.* Thomas Paine

He wants $235,000, in part to pay for the hospital bills that resulted from him being shot by police when they arrested him.

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It is a pity that some LEOs are such terrible shots.

Heraclitus:
“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”

If he's representing himself pro se then he has a fool for a client, and most likely because no real lawyer would represent him in a clear losing case. What a moron.

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Evidently Dimmick hasn't a clue about contract law....as is frequently stated....an oral contract is usually not worth the paper it is written upon....The supposed contract with his hostages is not legally binding as there were, prima facie, elements of duress applied to the hostages, either explicitly and/or implicitly; the hostages can't legally enter into a binding contract to provide a service, the purpose of which is to break or frustrate the due processes of the law of the land. Aiding and abbetting a criminal who is committing or has committed a crimminal act is not a lawful means of commerce.

The following fragmentary song lyric comes to mind...."You better get a lawyer son, you better get a real good one......"

I doubt that Dimmick's lawsuit was initiated with any real prospect of success...I think it's just a ploy to intimidate the hostages and add to the psychological pressure upon them as potential witnesses against him in his crimminal proceedings.

As to the second palooka in South America....his lawsuit is probably a tactical one also...alleged criminals have the protection of the law and are free to exploit any lawful avenue in their defence, no matter how galling it may be to the people he is alleged to have aggrieved. I don't necessarily see it as a weaknesss in the law as such, but a strength that also protects the innocent from unconscionable abuses by the legal system that is intended to protect them.

Rules are for the guidance of the wise, and the blind obedience of fools. - unsourced

To deny your oppressor's, or your own humanity is to descend into barbarism. - V. Chelloveck

Survival is a battle for the mind...mainly one's own. - V. Chelloveck

A beautiful idea founded on faulty reasoning is like a turd wrapped in gold foil, tinsel and glitter. Neither are wholesome if swollowed whole! - V. Chelloveck

What is a religion, but a cult with a larger following and a veneer of respectability. - V.C.

So, this is what we have to look forward to in the future...spoiled brats that kill you and then sue your family for your dying!?
Maybe, IF he were to sue the dead people...?
What a sick society!
GET A ROPE!

Before criticizing another, first walk a mile in their shoes....Then you'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes!